


Claws

by veenaistired



Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games), Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen, Meet-Cute, Monster Hunter AU, because meeting while fighting an elder dragon qualifies as a meet cute, can be read as entirely platonic as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 07:24:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20403901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veenaistired/pseuds/veenaistired
Summary: The Monster-Hunter AU literally nobody asked for





	Claws

**Author's Note:**

> So, turns out I'm a huge monster hunter fan, so here we are. Props to you if you catch all of the references!

This was absolutely unbelievable. First, some other hunter snatches his quests from under his nose for weeks and now, Neji was supposed to go and save them from a hunt gone wrong. Apparently, they'd gone out to slay a Tigrex but hadn't returned yet. It bothered him, being bested by someone who obviously had trouble killing such an unremarkable monster. Saying that he was angry about the whole situation would have been an understatement, but when the guild mistress called in a favor you delivered, so he didn't have much of a choice. So, the young hunter put on his armor, readied his trusty dual blades and checked over his equipment one last time, before heading out the gate.

The forest was quiet, serene even, but he knew better than to let himself be fooled by that. Thankfully, it didn't take him long to pick up the monster's tracks, intertwined with human footprints. The ground was drenched in blood at places and, judging from the sheer amount of it, he presumed it was the monsters. At least he hoped so. Hauling a mangled corpse back to town was about the last thing he wanted to do today.

Then, he heard it. The faint rustling of leaves. Instinctively, he unsheathed his weapons and fell into a stance. What Neji then came face to face with, wasn't a monster at all, but the very person he'd come to find. She looked a mess, armor coated in dirt and blood, scrapes and bruises wherever her skin was exposed and, on her left thigh, a nasty looking gash, likely from a claw. At least the woman didn't look like she was about to fall over. When she noticed him, a look of surprise spread across her features.

"The guild sent me to retrieve you. Given your inability to take down a single Tigrex, that might have been one of their better ideas as of yet." Even though he knew better than to be petty, the hunter couldn't help the air of triumph that accompanied the statement.

A hint of anger flashed across her face but was quickly replaced by something else. She looked... tense?

"Look, the Tigrex isn't the problem here. I killed that a while ago, thank you _very much._ No, there is something else around. Something way worse." Something else? Before he could formulate a question, she was already speaking up again, moving towards him with the speed of a huntress. "Hide!", she hissed as she pulled him down into the bushes, her voice full of urgency. The woman's grip was immensely strong, though that was only to be expected of a huntress and a split second later he found himself on the ground, surrounded by branches and leaves. 

"Would you mind telling me what's going on!?" Neji didn't like being left in the dark about things, not at all. 

"I'm not one hundred percent sure but not long after I killed that Tigrex _it_ showed up." That didn't bode well. "It was much stronger than anything I've fought before and it cut off my escape route, so I hid. I think it might be a dragon" 

At that very moment, as if she'd summoned it with her words, the sky darkened as a pair of huge, blackish wings blocked out the sun. The creature was imposing, there was no better word to describe it, and most certainly dangerous. An inexplicable feeling of dread spread through his gut at the sight of it. As if the situation wasn't bad enough already, the beast landed not far from the pair of hunters, it's dark aura only intensifying due to the closer proximity. Upon getting a closer look at it Neji figured the woman next to him had been right with her guess. That thing was definitely a dragon. Apparently, he wasn't the only one affected by the monster's presence, as the huntress drew in a sharp breath. 

"We can't defeat that thing, at least not in our current condition. Believe me, I've tried." As she said those words, her hand, probably subconsciously, wandered to the wound on her thigh. At that moment, his perception of her shifted considerably. She'd fought that thing alone and somehow gotten away with her life. Even though he was still mad at her for stealing his hunts, she was clearly a very skilled huntress. Although that hardly mattered at the moment. She was right, they needed to get out of here. _Fast._

Things weren't quite as easy as that though. Even if they managed to outrun the dragon and get back to town, it would follow them, at least if it had his sights set onto the woman. The town was well fortified, built to withstand dragon attacks, but there was still a fair share of civilians living within its walls and, besides, he'd never seen a monster like this before. There was no way of telling what kind of havoc it might wreak. No, they needed to tell the guild about this, so they could adequately prepare for a threat like that. 

"You're right", he answered. "But we still need to get it off our trail for now."

"Agreed. I still have some bombs with me, they might scare it off if I manage to detonate all of them at once." Bombs. During his entire career as a hunter, Neji hadn't used them once. The possibility of getting caught in your own blast had always seemed unnecessarily reckless to him. Though, in the light of the current situation, a little recklessness might just be what they needed.

"Alright, I'll distract it and you plant the explosives?" She simply nodded at the proposition, a look of grim conviction overtaking her face. As she picked up her weapon, a sword so big it was almost as tall as the huntress herself, she threw him a look that unmistakably _said are you ready?_ He gave her his answer in the form of a gaze of his own and, together, they charged at the beast. 

When it noticed them the dragon let out a deafening scream and an unnatural darkness overcame the forest as stormclouds gathered all across the sky. In the dim light, the beast's wings and body almost seemed to be glowing. It was beautiful. It was terrible. Instinct told him to run, to hide as any person with a normal sense of self-preservation would. But, as a hunter, Neji Hyuuga had learned to ignore that specific instinct. In this profession, fleeing got you nowhere. 

Quickly, he closed the distance between himself and the monster, slashing at it with precise and well-trained movements. It didn't seem like the attacks were doing much at all, except enrage the creature further, but killing it had never been the plan. It swiped at him with one of its massive claws and he only managed to dodge by a hair's width. It followed up with another swipe so quickly, he didn't have time to evade but, thankfully, his armor blocked the blow. There would definitely be an ugly bruise, but at least he wasn't bleeding. Not _yet_, anyways. The monster continued its assault, relentless and deadly, and he had to use every ounce of his skill to not get absolutely annihilated. Then, after what couldn't have been more than a few minutes but felt like an eternity, the huntress' voice finally rang out. 

"Run, **now!**"

He did as told, sheathing his blades and breaking out into a full sprint, trying to gain as much distance as possible within the short time that was left. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the woman's scream had alerted the dragon, which was now preparing to pounce on her. She didn't move. Why the hell didn't she move?! 

Time slowed to a crawl as the monster leaped directly towards her, claws ready to strike, to kill. He swore his heart skipped a beat just watching it. In the last possible moment, she rolled out of the way, then came the blast.

The bombs, all going off at the same time, almost rivaled the monster's horrendous scream in loudness and for a second, the forest was alight with the explosions. Even from where he stood, he could feel the smoldering heat on his skin. The dragon released another pained noise before spreading its wings and lifted itself up into the sky again. Slowly, the dark clouds vanished, together with the dread he was feeling and the sun illuminated the area once more. They'd done it. 

The huntress slowly picked herself up from the ground and walked towards him on shaky legs. On her face, besides some light burn marks, she wore the brightest smile he'd ever seen. 

"Wow... that actually worked." She sounded happy, relieved and bone-weary. The latter probably came from the adrenaline wearing off. Upon closer inspection, she looked suspiciously pale, her eyes glazed over. A sudden worry overcame him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I just think I... might be passing out right now." And pass out she did, right then and there. Neji tried but wasn't quick enough to break the fall. When she hit the ground with a clank, he couldn't help but wince. At least the helm she was wearing had probably protected her head. Sighing, he picked up the woman, straining under the combined weight of her armor and that ridiculously large sword and started walking. He'd promised the guild mistress to bring her back after all. 

\---

The campfire was small, but going strong, protecting the two from the nightly chill. The sun had set a while ago, and still, there weren't any signs the huntress was going to wake up anytime soon. Neji was starting to get seriously worried. Passing out after, or even during, hunts wasn't all that uncommon. Monsters, after all, possessed an extremely intense presence that often reverberated through a hunters body and soul, even after the mark was killed. Not to mention the physical strain. Her breathing was steady, he'd checked, but that didn't erase the possibility of serious injury. Maybe he should get them moving again, get back to town before-

As if on cue, the huntress' eyes fluttered open and an invisible weight was lifted off of his shoulders. That and the very real weight he'd have had to carry had she not woken up. For a good while, the two did nothing but look at each other. Then, she spoke up.

"Huh, you're still here." She actually sounded surprised, which served to make him raise an eyebrow. 

"Did you really think I'd leave you?" Sure, he hadn't been pleased about the entire situation but just leaving her behind in her condition had been out of the question. Not to mention that the guild mistress would've had his head.

"Kinda? I mean, no offense, but when we first met you didn't exactly seem thrilled to see me." She didn't sound mad, not exactly. It felt almost as if she was teasing him.

"Well, you _have_ been stealing my quests for weeks now." At that, something fiery awakened in her eyes and, even though she was struggling with moving, propped herself up on her elbows. 

"Steal?! I just ended up being faster! You snooze, you lose. And, besides, it isn't like I was doing it on purpose." That much was true, even though admitting it didn't feel great. 

"I suppose so", he replied dryly. Apparently, she wasn't convinced. 

"Geez, if it really bothers you that much we can just go on the next hunt together. We _do_ make a pretty good team, in my opinion." She wasn't wrong, but, until now, Neji had always flown solo. He wasn't exactly a team-player. 

"We'll see."

"Scared I'll make you look old?" There was a laugh laced in with her voice. And a challenge. He didn't bother to dignify that statement with an answer, simply glaring at her instead. "Okay, sheesh, no need to act all offended. Anyways, we should get back to town to, you know, let people know there is a damn calamity dragon on the loose."

"Agreed." Neji rummaged through his pouch, procuring a single vial full of a greenish liquid. When he handed it to her, the woman threw him a questioning look.

"Are you sure about this?" A hunter's potions were valuable resources and not easy to come by. After all, they had to procure the ingredients and brew them themselves. 

"Yes. I'm not carrying you all the way back. Or your stupidly heavy sword, for that matter." He'd weighed the options in his mind and losing a potion was preferable to carrying the woman plus armor plus weapon the rest of the way. And from the way she looked, there was no way she could make the trip without assistance if she didn't drink the potion. 

"Aren't you a friendly one." Once more, her voice was full of humor. Even in a situation like this. "And don't call Brünhild stupid.

"You named your sword?" This time, his voice was the one tinted with humor. Giving a name to an inanimate object seemed childish to him.

"Technically, the smith did. But it's his work, so it sort of feels right calling it that too." That statement caught him off-guard completely.

"Wait, the smith _talks?!_ Neji had been a customer for years now and never, _never,_ had the man talked to him. 

"Uh, yeah? At least to me, he does." She said it as if it was the most unremarkable thing in the world. It irritated him. 

"Unbelievable! Ever since I've known him, he's never given me as much as a single word. He only ever communicates with me through his assistant!" 

"I sure wonder why." The sarcasm in her tone was infuriating. 

"What do you mean by that?" Instead of a proper answer, she simply flashed him a smile and, through inexplicable means, he felt his anger wash away within seconds.

"Don't worry about it. I can take you with me the next time I visit him, though. To break the ice or something. I do owe you for the potion after all." 

Upon saying that, she popped open the vial, threw her head back and downed its contents in one go. Only seconds later, she sighed in relief as the effects kicked in. Within a fragment of a moment, her face gained a healthier color and some of the minor scrapes on her face faded away. There was even a slight twinkle in her eyes. Neji knew the effects of potions so well, he could almost feel the instantaneous pain relief himself. Though, she'd still need to see a doctor about that gash on her thigh. Potions, after all, were made to cure minor wounds and give you the strength to go on, not sew up your leg. She seemed good to go though, so he gathered his things and put out the fire. When he stretched out a hand towards her, to help her up, she didn't take it immediately, throwing him a questioning look instead. 

"Wait. I don't even know your name."

"It's Neji Hyuuga. Can you _please_ get up now, I don't have all night." She rolled her eyes at the brisk reply, but finally gripped his hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"I'm Tenten, by the way. Now, let's get going." And they did just that. At first, her steps were a bit shaky, but soon she was shouldering the weight of the greatsword seemingly without a problem and easily kept pace with him. 

"I still don't get how you can stand hauling that thing around all the time", he said, gesturing at her weapon. Tenten just shrugged. Casually, as if the sword on her back didn't weigh more than a simple dagger.

"You get used to it. Besides, and not to sound like a conceited ass, I'm really good at using it."

She smiled at him then, looking as if she didn't just fight off the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen. It was true though, she did use that sword like no other, so maybe teaming up for another hunt wasn't the worst idea. Maybe, if she could get used to dragging a greatsword around with her all day, he could get used to her.


End file.
